supergodzilla seed growing

[Cactusupdate]

copiapoa seem to have short viability time.
i've sowed a couple species from mesa over the last year, the ones i ordered before june had pretty good germination rate. i've sowed about 4 species since june (10 seeds a packet) and have a grand total of 3 seedlings (dealbata). maybe 6 months like haworthia. you would also think being harvested most likely in winter (in the northern hemisphere) they would come in fresh on the new seed lists in january. i dont know how long copiapoa fruits ripen to be viable however. maybe a long time like christmas cactus? so maybe these are a year old in january?

Very interesting. I sowed 100x of dealbata and 100x of haseltoniana from Mesa in October. I got about 70/100 for dealbata, and 7/100 for haseltoniana. I wonder how much of it has to do with time...

[supergodzilla]

Three month seedling update:

Sowed 9th September 2018

Geohintonia Mexicana (Koehres)
Sowed: 44
Germinated: 27 (61%)
Three month survival: 21 (78%)

Ferocactus Lindsayi (Koehres)
Sowed: 24
Germinated: 2 (8%)
Three month survival: 1 (50%)

Epithelantha Micromeris v. Neomexicana (Cactus Hobby Brno)
Sowed: 32
Germinated: 17 (53%)
Three month survival: 17 (100%)

Turbinicarpus Pseudopectinatus (Cactus Hobby Brno)
Sowed: 35
Germinated: 33 (94%)
Three month survival: 18 (55%)
Notes: some sort of rust fungal contamination started affecting these seeds so I did a bit of a ruthless cull and those remaining seem to be doing just fine.

Mammillaria Luethyi (Cactus Hobby Brno)
Sowed: 29
Germinated: 1 (3%)
Three month survival: 1 (100%)

Matucana Madisoniorum (Mesa Garden)
Sowed: 25
Germinated: 9 (36%)
Three month survival: 9 (100%)

Azureocereus Imperator (Mesa Garden)
Sowed: 27
Germinated: 13 (48%)
Three month survival: 13 (100%)

Sowed 19th September 2018

Trichocereus Scopulicola cv. Hulk (Cheezelburger)
Sowed: 59
Germinated: 51 (86%)
Three month survival: 51 (100%)

Copiapoa Hypogaea v. Lizard Skin (Cactus Miroshnochenko)
Sowed: 48
Germinated: 33 (69%)
Three month survival: 28 (85%)

Sowed 23rd September 2018

Strombocactus Disciformis (koehres)
Sowed: 104
Germinated: 60 (58%)
Three month survival: 60 (100%)

Ariocarpus Cultivar mix (private sale)
Sowed: 26
Germinated: 8 (31%)
Three month survival: 8 (100%)

[supergodzilla]

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Geohintonia mexicana seedlings at three months.

[supergodzilla]

Yesterday I harvested seed pods from some Echinocactus grusonii in a public garden. I plan to use these to experiment with different seed rearing practices for my local climate. I collected about 500 seeds in total and today I sowed 50 of them. There are two pots in the baggie, one containing my usual seed raising mix and the other with unadulterated cactus and succulent mix topped with a layer of zeolite. The baggies have been placed in a shady section of the greenhouse.

This week I also received a seed order in the post from Cactus Clubs of Hradec Králové. Most of the seeds in this order have been placed into storage, to be sowed at the end of the Australian winter. However, I did sow two pots worth of seed:
45 X Aztekium ritteri
24 X Aztekium valdezii

[supergodzilla]

On November 14 I grafted a variegated Ariocarpus seedling to Selenicereus stock. I saved the root end and grafted it to Pereskiopsis to see what would happen. Now, after just under two months, the root graft has started to show new growth.

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[supergodzilla]

Today I grafted several more seedlings.

2x Ariocarpus fromodosus
1x Astrophytum asterias cv. Kikko
1x Tephrocactus geometricus
1x Aztekium hintonii

All were grafted onto Pereskiopsis.

[DodoBrooke]

DSC06752.jpg

Geohintonia mexicana seedlings at three months.

Don’t know how I missed this. Wow they are so small but the number is fine. When do you plan to graft them? Or are you grafting them all or giving a try on their own roots?
Beautiful seedlings of a beautiful plant.

[supergodzilla]

I have one grafted Geohintonia from last year which is growing fairly atypical of the species. My plan is just to let this year's Geohintonia's grow on their own roots at their own pace. They're slow, but I'm in no rush.

[supergodzilla]

We are not yet in the seed sowing season, coming into winter in Sydney. All of last year's seeds are now permanently on heat mats to carry them through to spring when I will remove them from their bags and put them into the greenhouse.

Even though it is not the best time for sowing, I recently planted some seeds of two species that are known for their short seed viability: Pachypodium namaquanum (from Mesa Garden) and Dorstenia foetida (from a plant I purchased in autumn.)

11 Dorstenia foetida seeds
22 Pachypodium namaquanum seeds

I will update the thread with their progress.

[supergodzilla]

The Dorstenia foetida seeds were sowed last month but have started germinating these last two weeks. The eldest is starting to swell and has its second set of leaves emerging. I'm surprised at the rapid rate of growth.

I sowed the Pachypodium namaquanum seeds two days ago and already they are germinating wildly. I normally treat all of my seeds with a bleach solution to ensure the baggies don't get contaminated, but having never sowed Pachypodium seeds before I opted to try two approaches. 11 seeds were soaked in a bleach solution and the other half were sowed without any treatment. Surprisingly (to me anyway!) seeds have germinated within two days. Clearly the bleach has inhibited germination - 9 of 11 untreated seeds have germinated while only 1 treated seed so far.

Here are some photos taken this afternoon: the first is of the progress of the Dorstenia, and the second is the newly germinated Pachypodium.

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[supergodzilla]

An emergency intervention today with the Pachypodium namaquanum seedlings. I noticed mould spreading rapidly inside the baggie - the seed cases from the germinated seeds were growing thick with fuzz, while the non-viable seeds that had been bleached were sending webs of mould spreading through its pot.

I removed both pots from the baggie and used tweezers to remove all seed casings and as much infected soil as possible. One seedling had stalled due to the mould but otherwise, nine seedlings appear to have survived for now.

I have placed the pots into a new baggie. Obviously these are not sterile so I will monitor closely for further outbreaks and put the pots into fresh air if any further pathogens appear. Ideally, the seedlings will get their roots into the soil before I need to remove them.

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[supergodzilla]

I have today sowed 29 seeds of Lithops karasmontana ssp. bella purchased from Mesa Garden. They are in a baggie under lights on a heat mat. I will update the thread when/if germination begins.

[supergodzilla]

I have today sowed some seeds of Euphorbia species I attained from a reputable eBay seller. Knowing the possible short viability of these seeds, I sowed them today despite it being the middle of winter.

Below is a summary of my 2019 seed sowing to date. All have been started on a heat mat under grow lights using the baggie technique. I microwave my soil mix for five minutes to eradicate any pathogens.

Aizoaceae
Lithops karasmontana v. bella
Purchased from Mesa Garden
Sowed 8 June 2019
29 seeds sowed, 24 germinated [83%]
Sowed in a very gritty mix (80% pumice sand, 20% sifted seed raising mix).
Picture:

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Apocynaceae
Pachypodium namaquanum
Purchased from Mesa Garden
Sowed 29 May 2019
22 seeds sowed, 10 germinated [45%]
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% pumice sand, 50% sifted seed raising mix).
Half the seeds were treated with diluted bleach. Only one of these seeds germinated. Major mould outbreak on seed coats (bleached and not bleached) after a week, which were removed, along with some soil. Two seedlings have had trouble getting their root down into the soil, so these were manually planted. After three weeks, first pair of true leaves is emerging on all seedlings.
Picture:

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Cactaceae
Aztekium ritteri
Purchased from Cactus Clubs of Hradec Králové
Sowed 5 January 2019
45 seeds sowed, 10 germinated [22%]
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% pumice sand, 50% sifted seed raising mix).
Seeds will remain in bag under lights until large enough to transplant. After five months, largest seedling approx 1.5mm in diameter.
Picture:

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Aztekium valdezii
Purchased from Cactus Clubs of Hradec Králové
Sowed 5 January 2019
24 seeds sowed, 10 germinated [42%]
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% pumice sand, 50% sifted seed raising mix).
Seeds will remain in bag under lights until large enough to transplant. After five months, largest seedling approx 2mm in diameter.
Picture:

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Gymnocalycium friedrichii LB2178 'Agua Dulce'
Purchased from Leal Cactus
Sowed 7 April 2019
46 seeds sowed, 37 germinated [80%]
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% pumice sand, 50% sifted seed raising mix). Dilute bleach treatment.
First seeds germinated in a few days, but continues sporadically after two months. Some algal growth in the bag being monitored closely but no detrimental impact on seedlings so far. Oldest seedlings now about 4mm diameter.
Picture:

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Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbia gymnocalycioides
Purchased from eBay seller 01-1110
Sowed 19 June 2019
5 seeds sowed today
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% pumice sand, 50% sifted seed raising mix).
Seeds have not been treated with dilute bleach so will be monitored for mould.

Euphorbia stellata
Purchased from eBay seller 01-1110
Sowed 19 June 2019
12 seeds sowed today
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% pumice sand, 50% sifted seed raising mix).
Seeds have not been treated with dilute bleach so will be monitored for mould.

Moraceae
Dorstenia foetida
Self-harvested from own plant
Sowed 14 April 2019
14 seeds sowed, 4 germinated [28%]
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% pumice sand, 50% sifted seed raising mix). Dilute bleach treatment.
Seeds took several weeks (3-4) to begin germination. Some cotyledons showed some signs of mould attack, so pot was removed from baggie. The pot remains under grow lights on a heat mat and is deep watered every 3-4 days. Seedlings are growing rapidly - 5 weeks after germination the largest is beginning to grow its third set of true leaves.
Picture:

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[supergodzilla]

My recent mad flurry of seed sowing continued today. I received in the post a package from Out of Africa, which sells seeds of Pachypodium and some unusual Euphorbia species. Once again, these seeds are known to rapidly lose viability and so I used some of the remaining space on my heat mat in order to sow them out of season.

I have one space left on the heat mat, so may sow one final pot of seeds this weekend.

I have today sowed the following seeds:

Apocynaceae
Pachypodium brevicaule ssp. leucoxanthum
Purchased from Out of Africa Plants
Sowed 21 June 2019
18 seeds sowed today.
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% sifted pumice, 50% sifted seed raising mix)
Seeds were soaked overnight in water. About half sunk, which may indicate viability rate. I know this species has a reputation for being nigh on impossible, so will watch their progress eagerly.

Pachypodium densiflorum
Purchased from Out of Africa Plants
Sowed 21 June 2019
24 seeds sowed today.
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% sifted pumice, 50% sifted seed raising mix)
Seeds were soaked overnight in water. About three quarters sunk, which may indicate viability rate.

Pachypodium eburneum
Purchased from Out of Africa Plants
Sowed 21 June 2019
18 seeds sowed today.
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% sifted pumice, 50% sifted seed raising mix)
Seeds were soaked overnight in water. About three quarters sunk, which may indicate viability rate.

Pachypodium horombense
Purchased from Out of Africa Plants
Sowed 21 June 2019
17 seeds sowed today.
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% sifted pumice, 50% sifted seed raising mix)
Seeds were soaked overnight in water. About three quarters sunk, which may indicate viability rate.

Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbia pachypodioides
Purchased from Out of Africa Plants
Sowed 21 June 2019
14 seeds sowed today.
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% sifted pumice, 50% sifted seed raising mix)
Seeds were soaked overnight in water. All seeds sunk, which may indicate viability rate.

Euphorbia poissonii
Purchased from Out of Africa Plants
Sowed 21 June 2019
10 seeds sowed today.
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% sifted pumice, 50% sifted seed raising mix)
Seeds were soaked overnight in water. Half of all seeds sunk, which may indicate viability rate.

Euphorbia subapoda
Purchased from Out of Africa Plants
Sowed 21 June 2019
10 seeds sowed today.
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% sifted pumice, 50% sifted seed raising mix)
Seeds were soaked overnight in water. Almost all seeds sunk, which may indicate viability rate.

Euphorbia unispina
Purchased from Out of Africa Plants
Sowed 21 June 2019
6 seeds sowed today.
Sowed in a gritty mix (50% sifted pumice, 50% sifted seed raising mix)
Seeds were soaked overnight in water. All seeds sunk, which may indicate viability rate.

[supergodzilla]

Mixed news so far with the latest seed sowing attempts.

The good news - 4 out of 5 Euphorbia gymnocalycioides seeds have germinated so far. I was surprised at how rapidly they began popping up.

The bad news - all of the Pachypodium seeds that I purchased are transforming into little volcanoes of mould. The contamination is absolute, and I've thrown out the densiflorum and brevicaule pots and am close to conceding the battle with the horombense and eburneum. I've been spraying with hydrogen peroxide in an attempt to keep the mould at bay, but it is so extensive that I can only conclude that the vast majority of seeds were not viable and were merely harbouring the pathogens. I have attached a photo below of the infection. I can spot three forms of fungal infection in this pot alone.

Of the other Euphorbia seeds, there has been little movement. One stellata seed has germinated, but no movement yet from the pachypodioides, subapoda, unispina or poissonii.

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